As a former BMW-mechanic myself I remember this Bike, espacially the 27 hp-version hier in Germany. Nobody liked this Bike in the shop because of the lack of power. To get fast you had to turn up the engine to higher revs than the other models on the airheads at this aera. While the R45 often used as a beginner-bike by younger people who couldn`t afford a 800 or 1000cc boxer and the restriction to 27 hp max in Germany the R45 often endured hard times with higher revs than bigger models of airheads which resulted into torn off output-valves on the (allways) right cylinder-head by following damage. Selling a used bike with warranty as a dealer without getting new valves on it looked like a lottery. The dealer I worked for learned the hard way and decided to change valves on any R45 and R65 bike he resaled used at his shop. You could never know how many ours on full throttle the second or third or more owner (often students) did on the Autobahn without checking the valve-gap regularly. Compared to the bigger models the valve-shaft is 1mm smaller in diameter on the R45 and R65 which results in faster elongation until it torns off. Good Rebuilders use the 8mm-versions for rebuild. As younger mechanics we made fun arround the R45 a lot. For a test ride we had an old sleeping bag we threw at the mechanic who had the burden to do it, because it could take longer to get arround town. And allways clean your taillight of the smashed insects who couldn`t slow down in time.
Hi there! i have another BMW R45, european version, 27 H.P. I call him " the tractor " for obvious reasons. No push, no brake....but lovely sound, feelings and hapiness while riding. I have newer bikes, too, but it is difficult to get these emotions and feelings you get riding classic bikes. I wanna go to UK for a ride soon. Cheers from Bilbao, north Spain
Hi there Bilbao. Glad you love the R45 like I do. I'm thinking that I may just fit the 850cc kit in 2022. The bike is fantastic but perhaps a little slow so we'll see how it goes :) Shout if you come to the UK and have a Fantastic Christmas and New Year :D
@@theoldgraywindpassertest thanks mate,same to you.This 850 CC sounds killer....maybe todo much for slow country roads? ;-) Hope to ser you Sión.Cheers
Excellent video but please consider to work on the sound. I had to stop watching as the music was way to loud compared to some of your comments. Nice bike and many really interesting camera moves including a drone. Really good job but please try to normalize the sound mix (music / voice) better.
When the R45 was introduced along with the R65 the motorcycle magazines criticised it for having no more power than a japanese 4 stroke 250 I dont think BMW sold many in the UK when you could buy a japenese 750 for the same money My mate owned one for a while in the 80's and when the engine dropped a valve and self destructed he was glad of the chance to replace the engine with an R65 unit of twice the bhp
Before I fitted the upgrade kit, my was so slow overtaking that I had to plan so far ahead I'd send everyone a recorded delivery letter to let them know 😁
I like your bike! Comparing it to the G310R (I prefer the airhead twin myself) ; Is there equality in performance, or that a matter of personal likes or dislikes between the bikes? I wish that they could have revived the R45; Instead of carbs; How about fuel injectors? An R45; updated, but still the same style overall...What do you say?
Hi Tim. Thanks for your comments. To me the G310 has so much more tech and modern design there is really not that much we can compare. The R45 is based on a very old basic design but to me has quite a lot of endearing features. I too thought about injection. These days we can use Speeduno DIY Efi and then add electronic ignition. I think it's maybe a lot of time and effort for very little gain in power though. Instead, I think I'm going to go for a 850cc upgrade kit that basically changes just the barrels and pistons. It's not that much of an upgrade but I believe the performance is greatly improved. A winter project :D
Trying to think of any other bike where you can nearly double the displacement and power output in a few hours just by changing a couple of barrels and pistons. Also there's got to be guys with an R65 who've done the 860 upgrade that have the 650cc barrels and pistons just lying in a box somewhere . . . The 650 makes 50hp and 105mph. (With 32mm carbs ...)
Sorry mate but over here in its homeland we even had a 35 HP version of the R45. Only the R45 N had 27 HP to allow beginners with a limited license to ride a brand new BMW. Later BMW also made the R65 Monolever with 27 HP for those customers. Otherwise nice bike and nice attitude.
Now that's interesting, I always thought that DE got the 27hp one as the carbs were 2mm smaller. Thanks :) Was the N version the one with the nose fairing? Always liked that little nose cone. David
@@theoldgraywindpassertest I really don't know if the fairing had been dedicated to one or the other version of the R45. The 35 HP version is very rare over here since you needed to have the unlimited drivers license which would even allow you to ride any other BMW. That's why only very few people would go for it. Moreover the R45 engine is infamous for dropping an outlet valve if you're hard on the throttle. Maybe not on a UK motorways but on the bloody autobahn.
@@franktechmaniac7488 I can't imagine a standard R45 to be anything but worrying on an autobahn :) I had mine on a motorway and it would just about cruse at 70mph on a flat motorway but screaming at about 5500 revs. Since fitting the 860 upgrade kit that's now not a problem. I have just bought a R100 final drive to suit. :) What bike do you have Frank?
I’m looking to buy a new bike, one of these is an option. I love the idea of it, but I have the mechanical ability of an upside down turtle. Should I stay away from this?
Hi George, the BMW airheads are great bikes but they do need a certain amount of regular maintenance. They are however a great bike to work on and there is a huge pool of resources to tap into. If you are wanting to learn that's great but you will need to be on the tools every so often 😉
@@theoldgraywindpassertest sounds like it would be a great second bike to learn how bikes work while I’ve got another bike to commute with! I’ll see what I can find!
